Chapter 20. The Affair of the Necklace
Teaser The Amars visit Koibuchi mansion, though Tsukimi is reluctant to because of Shuu. Thanks to Inari's machinations, she and Shuu are visiting the ocean. Summary Tsukimi, Kuranosuke and Chieko make slow progress on the skirt. It's cut is too simple to do anything that Kuranosuke is imagining. Tsukimi stares and finally shouts that it looks nothing like the delicate beauty of a flower hat jellyfish. As she enters what Kuranosuke calls "otaku ranting mode," Tsukimi grabs the scissors. Meanwhile, Inari is giving a presentation that Shuu is attending. He zones out, thinking of Tsukimi, and slides into a fantasy of being her rescuer if she gets evicted from Amamizukan due to the redevelopment. Tsukimi is fragile and beautiful in his daydream, as they live together quietly by the sea. His daydream comes to an abrupt halt when, in his head, Inari's whispers into his ear that he can't have that daydream because he slept with her. Shuu falls backward in his chair, causing an awkward disruption to the presentation. After the meeting he tries to avoid Inari but she follows him to his car and tells Hanamori to drive them to the ocean. Shuu yells at her to get out of the car, but Hanamori listens to her instead of Shuu's protests. Kuranosuke gets restless holding still for Tsukimi while she messes with the skirt. He compliments her focus that she hasn't spoken this whole time and then gets accidentally jabbed by a needle. Wearily, Tsukimi falls back and says that the skirt finally resembles a flower hat jelly's bell. Kuranosuke suggests moving production to his house, where they can get a pannier to put under the skirt and make it floof. He mentions that Shuu won't be there so it'll be OK, but this causes Tsukimi to remember Shuu and all the things she boxed away. She turns and runs out of the room. Kuranosuke goes to his house to bring supplies, and decides to bring the mannequin to save himself from getting poked again. He calls Hanamori to drive him, but discovers that Hanamori is in Umihotaru. Hanamori shares that he wants to eat some of the famous ramen with clams, but he's allergic to shellfish. Kuranosuke asks him why he's out not working when he's supposed to be with Shuu, which is when Hanamori explains that he's with Shuu and "his girlfriend." "What? Girlfriend? You mean the excessively sexy land shark?"Princess Jellyfish manga Kodansha (2-in-1 Edition): Volume 4, Chapter 20, Page 251 After some mild threat of damage to their other Mercedes Benz, Hanamori reveals that Keiichiro ordered Hanamori to encourage the relationship between Shuu and Inari, and not to stop until "they're going steady."Princess Jellyfish manga Kodansha (2-in-1 Edition): Volume 4, Chapter 20, Page 252 At Amamizukan, Tsukimi visits with Clara, regretting that one word was enough to make her open up that box of painful memories. Jiji answers the phone when Kuranosuke calls, and tells him that Tsukimi is huddled in front of Clara's tank and won't go to his house. Kuranosuke, remembering Jiji's obsession with older men, tells her to tie Tsukimi up if she has to. When she arrives with Tsukimi, she can look throughout his house at the tons of pictures of men from the Koibuchi family history. Chieko and Jiji arrive with the various materials Chieko had been working on—and a tied-up Tsukimi—on a pulley. Everyone and everything goes straight to Kuranosuke's room, where he shows off his stuff. He makes Jiji help put the dress material on the mannequin before showing her the pictures. Tsukimi notices a pearl necklace get knocked onto the floor by her feet. She looks up and sees even more necklaces on top of the dresser. She asks to be untied, and after a distracted acknowledgment, Kuranosuke does so. Tsukimi thinks that if she could recreate that moment in the aquarium with her mother, shaping it with her own two hands instead of drawing it... Tsukimi grabs a pearl necklace off the dresser and snaps it, causing the other three to turn and stare. Back in Umihotaru, Hanamori's face breaks out in spots while he eats ramen with Shuu and Inari. Characters in Order of Appearance Quotes * Trivia *The chapter title comes from the 2001 historical drama of the same name. The movie derived its name and some of its plot from an incident known as "The Affair of the Diamond Necklace," which was one of many catalysts leading to the French Revolution. References Category:Manga Category:Volume 4